


Son

by Error403HRD



Series: GRSM/LGBT Representation [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Gen, Mild Gore, Mild Language, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Smart Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24986050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Error403HRD/pseuds/Error403HRD
Summary: Sir Aaron believed himself an honorable man.But he was more a selfish man.And he knew that this little family he built was more important to him than anything else."Riolu, I want you to teach Ash how to use his aura."{On Hiatus due to lack of motivation, not abandoned.}
Relationships: Arlon | Sir Aaron & Lucario, Arlon | Sir Aaron & Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Riolu & Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Series: GRSM/LGBT Representation [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087655
Comments: 14
Kudos: 76





	1. Selfish

**Author's Note:**

> I'll attempt to keep an upload schedule, no promises though.

Sir Aaron liked to believe himself an honorable man, and he was, but he was also selfish.

It threw him into situations he normally wouldn't be in, such as hiding a son born out of wedlock and not being able to attend the woman's funeral because it would be suspicious.

He wasn't prepared for a child, but he did his best, with the help of Lucario. The boy quickly captured their hearts, though his strong aura may have helped.

That would have to be trained once he gained the mind to be able to do so.

His son's aura was also almost identical to Aaron's own, forcing Lucario to learn how to better differentiate small differences in aura to get tasks done more efficiently.

It was a useful skill, they'd learned.

Then, after an outing to the nearby woods, Lucario came back with an egg that almost instantly bonded with the boy.

Well, from then on Lucario had to focus more on raising the riolu up to use aura correctly. There would be dangerous consequences if that training was neglected.

Those of the lucario line learn much more quickly than humans, so it was unnecessary to wait until Ash was old enough to learn to start teaching Riolu.

Though Ash still listened in on many of his "brother"'s lessons despite not having the ability to understand the techniques just yet.

Aaron really didn't think he'd care much for his son, but the child was kind without fail, a little hot tempered when he was ill, and was always willing to help.

It got them into a few avoidable situations concerning Ash leaving the house, but he always seemed to learn his lesson, so Aaron could never really stay too upset for long.

Ash was a sweet child, and hiding him away from everyone was a monstrous task, but it had to be done.

If it became known that he fathered a child out of wedlock, he'd be scorned by everyone in the castle, and most certainly everyone on the guard.

It could even lose him his status, the very thing that afforded him the ability to care for Ash in the first place.

No, it was easier to keep Ash a secret, as adventurous as the little boy was.

And oh was he adventurous.

Worse still, Riolu was often an enabler.

They knew they were just being children, but it caused quite a bit of stress for both Lucario and himself when they noticed the two had managed to leave the house and go into the woods nearby.

They tried to do it quite often.

Riolu was allowed to leave the house, under Lucario's watch, but he never left Ash's side for too long, which often led to the two spending most of their days inside.

Lucario insisted Riolu was simply unusually protective.

It didn't quell Aaron's worry about codependency.

Nevertheless, Aaron and Lucario were both grateful for aura sensing.

Without it then the two would've been impossible to find.

The two knew each other better than anyone else.

As parents, Aaron and Lucario were a little disappointed about that fact, but they had to be doing something right since neither child was afraid around them as other children appeared to be with their fathers.

They decided to let it be, as it wasn't harming anyone yet.

The children didn't tend to keep secrets from them anyway.

In Aaron's little spare time he'd teach Ash and Riolu about history or Kantonian.

It was for Ash to learn to speak fluently a little sooner and for Riolu to learn more about the place he and his brother were rarely able to see.

Lucario stayed at home more often and thus had more time to spend with the children.

He often spent it teaching the two about aura. Riolu was more of an active learner, but Ash was participating as early as two years old.

It was dangerous, and Aaron swore he almost died of panic the first time he saw, but Lucario was watchful and made sure that Ash never made a lethal mistake.

Aaron often wanted to club his partner pokemon, but Lucario rarely ever made mistakes despite his temper.

He was far too cautious for that.

Riolu was very intelligent, able to pick most things up in very few attempts.

Ash was an amazing learner too....

When he didn't have to slog through boring books.

Aaron had noticed that his son had trouble retaining information from text, which was a little unfortunate, but hopefully teaching him to take notes while reading would help a little.

Books were Ash's main source of information about the outside, so Aaron hoped he'd learn to work through it.

The few times Ash was allowed outside, at night and with Aaron of course, he'd noticed something odd about his son.

He could befriend any pokemon within the hour.

Normally within minutes, but some were more difficult than others.

Ash was a blessing. They all knew it. Riolu was just the most vocal about it.

It was just before Ash's fifth year when war broke out.

After, Aaron and Lucario managed to keep Ash and Riolu safe for a year, but they knew it wouldn't be too much longer.

Aaron knew they'd all die if he didn't do something.

He was a selfish man, he knew this. He also knew that the little family he built was more important to him than anything else.

So, he snuck away, hunting for Celebi in the darkest hours of the night.

Abandoning his post.

Possibly committing treason by doing so.

But it was for his family.

He'd been so lucky. It was as if the legendary had been....looking for him.

Celebi had simply smiled and nodded, before disguising themself.

Aaron knew they followed him as he made his way into his home, passing the post he was supposed to be standing guard at on the way.

Riolu woke immediately, sensing the familiar aura nearby, Ash woke soon after, for the same reason. Celebi revealed themself as soon as he closed the door and kneeled in front of them.

He looked at his dear children and it suddenly hit him.

He was going to do this.

He was going to do this.

He smiled, ignoring the forming tears, he ruffled his son's hair,

"Ash, I want you to make me proud." Ash nodded and let himself be hugged. He knew these words were important.

Even if he didn't quite know why.

Pressing a kiss to the small child's temple, Aaron sighed, "Please, be happy, and know that I love you more than anything else."

His eyes shifted to Riolu, who looked worried as he eyed Celebi. Aaron gave another small, reassuring smile, "They're here to take you somewhere safe."

Say it.

They need to know.

"Riolu, I want you to teach Ash how to use his Aura."

Riolu's eyes widened.

The realization burned.

Aaron was always supposed to be the one to teach Ash.

No matter how often Lucario decided to let Ash listen in, Aaron was always supposed to be his teacher.

Riolu's eyes started to tear up.

Aaron's heart broke.

It only took Ash a few more seconds.

Then he started tearing up as well.

Aaron steeled himself as he hugged the crying children to his chest.

He had to do this.

With not another word said, he separated himself from the boys.

Celebi flew up.

With Aaron standing aside, Ash and Riolu clung to each other.

Celebi's smile did nothing to calm them.

The tears didn't cease.

Aaron couldn't bring himself to look away as the two children he'd raised were suddenly gone.

There was barely even a flash of light.

He let himself weep, that night and that night only.

The children were safe.

Now he had to protect Lucario.

_I'm so sorry Lucario._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um, yeah, in my defense.....nah, i've got nothing, fire away!


	2. Old Kantonian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash needs to learn, and Riolu is a failure.

Father's sad but calm smile.

A knowing smile.

It was the last thing he had.

Both Ash and Riolu knew Lucario was alive, but they couldn't find him.

Neither of them could sense Father.

Ash clung to the last thing he had of him.

His words.

Father wanted him to make him proud.

So that's what he'd do.

That night was the worst thing he could imagine, but there was no going back.

Celebi had disappeared soon after they'd been transported to this strange time.

After a few hours of tears, they'd decided to look for a library.

Books had always been Ash's main resource.

And they needed to learn about The Outside

It didn't matter that Lucario and Father weren't there to read aloud.

Ash had to do this on his own.

No.

That was unfair

He had Riolu.

His best friend.

His brother.

He wasn't alone in this.

So they made their way to civilization, only to realize that the language was both similar and not.

Further research was conducted.

Old Kantonian.

 _Old_ Kantonian.

How far into the future had they been sent for it to be _Old_ Kantonian?

No matter. He...he'd just have to learn Modern Kantonian then.

He'd have to make sure he only spoke to Riolu in Old Kantonian.

He couldn't bear to forget.

No, he'd have to learn.

He'd make his father proud.

So he read and absorbed as much as he could, and slowly he began to understand what the people around him were saying.

He was determined not to forget his father's language.

His notes were in his language.

After relearning how to read, he learned what he could about this world.

Pokemon Journies were one of the main topics in the library.

Children at the age of ten, in Kanto at least, were allowed to traverse the wilderness to learn about themselves, survival, and how to care for others.

You'd only get an official starter if you passed a test, so most just handed their kid a caterpie and let them leave. Some never let their kids leave at all.

The age differed between regions however; in Johto it was thirteen, Hoenn it was ten, Sinnoh it was fourteen, Unova it was sixteen, in Kalos it was also sixteen, in Alola there wasn't much of a journey, and in Galar it was fifteen.

No mention of Rota.

Looking at the various regions, Ash counted himself lucky that he had much time to learn Unovan and Kalosian.

So that's what he did.

His notes were written in whatever language he felt like writing in, and he often spoke aloud to himself so he wouldn't forget.

He still only spoke to Riolu in Old Kantonian.

And when he reached the age of nine, they'd made the short trek through Route 1 to get to Pallet Town.

As he'd been staying in the forest for many years, he was surprised that no one commented on his battered clothing.

He was quite lucky he hadn't grown much, or it would've been much worse.

Most would be worried that they'd only grown half an inch in three years.

He counted himself lucky.

Making his way to the Pokemon Lab, he ran into the Pokemon Professor.

Quite literally.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir." The professor simply smiled, before frowning at his appearance, 

"Oh it's fine young one, are you here to inquire about Pokemon Journies?" Ash was slightly suspicious that he knew, but Riolu wasn't giving him a warning, and the man's aura didn't appear to be giving off any ill intent, just worry.

Perhaps children came to ask often.

"Um, yes sir." The professor nodded before taking him into the lab through a side door and leading him to what appeared to be a meeting room. Sitting down as he was told to, Ash motioned for Riolu to sit beside him.

He did so with only slight hesitance.

"So, you are clearly homeless." Ash winced at the bluntness, but decided to nod, as it was better not to be caught lying. The professor nodded, sighing, "Well, I have an extra room here, you and your riolu would be welcome to volunteer here to both get experience and learn new skills, how old are you and when is your birthday?" Ash sighed, Riolu didn't have any objections to giving this information, so it should be fine, 

"I'm nine, and my birthday is May 22. My name is Ash." He figured he should probably introduce himself. The professor nodded and gave a grandfatherly smile, it did nothing to mask the growing worry in his aura.

"Good, now we'll go get you some proper clothes, and we'll show you the ropes."

Clothes shopping was an experience, especially since Riolu was advised to stay in the lab until they returned because not many had seen his species before.

Riolu hadn't been happy, but he complied, not before threatening the professor of course.

Ash ended up with a blue button up, grey slacks, and brown boots. When questioned, it was explained that boots had better traction than other shoes. Ash was asked if he wanted a haircut, as it had grown to beneath his shoulders in the past few years.

He almost said yes.

But he wasn't his father, and no amount of emulating him would bring him back.

So he was taught instead how to wash and brush his hair, and he was given a hair tie to tie it out of his way.

He was then taken for a health check.

He was apparently a full ten inches shorter than he was supposed to be, at least, almost severely underweight, and in need of vaccinations.

That explained the look of worry the professor had been giving him ever since he'd told his age.

Riolu had felt like a failure for not looking after his health better, but Ash did his best to kill that line of thinking quickly.

There was no way to fix his height, but they could fix his weight, and hope he grew more as a result of better health.

Then he was carted back to the lab and given a lab coat.

He was told that his journey would start just before his eleventh birthday, since he was born in May and they usually sent the kids off in April.

It was no issue. 

He enjoyed taking care of pokemon and learning.

He didn't have to study from a book to get this information, since some of the lab workers were nice enough to teach him.

Then he met Gary Oak.

The boy who invoked his last name as a badge of honor and a pass to do anything he wanted.

Ash didn't like him.

It was inevitable that they'd meet really, he worked in the lab for Arceus's sake!

The first thing Gary had said after Ash had been forced to introduce himself was,

"What, no last name?"

Riolu had almost killed him right then and there, but Ash simply dragged him away.

They cried in each other's arms that night.

Others had inquired of course, but neither of them trusted anyone enough yet for them to know.

So it was kept silent, whenever someone asked, Ash would either steer the topic or ignore the question.

Professor Oak had gotten worried enough to send him to a counselor at one point.

She didn't know anything either.

Ash and Riolu kept everything silent.

No one could know.

Professor Oak didn't bother asking how he knew Old Kantonian anymore. Now he simply asked Ash to translate and said nothing more.

If Professor Oak suspected time travel, well that was between him and his mind, now wasn't it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please recommend tags if you think there are any missing!


	3. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash and Riolu make a new friend, and Nurse Joy should really watch her words.

The day Ash finally left on his Pokemon Journey was.....

Surprising.

First he had woken to the other lab workers cooking him breakfast and wishing him luck.

He and Riolu were both surprised that they were so well liked.

Then he'd been allowed to choose whether he wanted a starter or just wanted to set off with Riolu.

It hadn't been a choice he'd been anticipating making.

But he and Riolu both knew that they were more than capable enough.

Riolu made him swear not to make him go into the pokeball though.

It apparently made it impossible to sense Ash's aura from inside, and neither of them needed Riolu having a panic attack because he couldn't find Ash.

Professor Oak had been sad to see them off.

He'd said to call if he ever needed someone to talk to.

He was being genuine.

It still surprised them both how much everyone around them actually cared about him.

The lab assistants all gave him small, useful, presents before he left.

They left an hour after they'd intended to.

Neither of them minded.

They'd both decided to take on the gym challenge.

So they'd at least have a purpose.

It was better than being nomadic and hoping Celebi would bring back their fathers.

Ash had done a bit of research.

He had to challenge the Rock Gym first.

After that the only requirement was that the Ground Gym was last.

Riolu was a fighting type who'd trained extensively to protect Ash his entire life.

It would be too easy.

But Ash was not in the habit of underestimating his opponents.

His father would call him a fool if he assumed he would win just because Riolu was super effective.

Leader Brock was the first Gym Leader of the region, however he was made difficult enough to weed out the ones who didn't give an honest effort.

He usually only had to use Geodude and Onix, however if he deemed Ash a worthy challenger he may have to face Rhyhorn, Kabutops, or even Aerodactyl.

No, Ash would not underestimate this opponent.

He spoke about it with Riolu as they walked through Route 1.

The pokemon available to them before reaching Pewter City were pidgey, rattata, spearow, both nidoran sexes, mankey, caterpie, weedle, pikachu, and all of their evolutions except raichu.

They'd decided to try his luck fishing instead.

Assistant Jane had given them a rod anyway, it would be a shame to let it gather dust.

So there he sat, waiting for a bite.

It was maybe an hour or so later that he got something that wasn't a magikarp.

Nothing against them, but....

Riolu wasn't exactly wrong when he said that they wouldn't always be able to find a body of water.

So it was for the best when they'd fished up a poliwag.

It didn't seem hostile, just confused.

So Ash smiled and knelt down.

It was almost Riolu's height, but his brother reluctantly backed away, willing to step in if necessary, but not wanting to frighten the confused pokemon.

"Hello, I'm Ash, would you like to join Riolu and I on our journey?" 

" _Journey?_ "

"You'll have to fight, I don't blame you if you-"

" _Sure, just fight me first, I wanna see your style._ "

Ash looked at Riolu, who nodded and walked up.

Poliwag didn't waste time getting started and shot a Bubble at Riolu.

Riolu dodged the slow moving attack easily and retaliated with Metal Claw.

Poliwag obviously felt the hit, but he didn't seem to mind.

Quite the opposite actually.

He seemed to be having the time of his life.

He retaliated with Double-Slap, as Riolu was very close to him and not fast enough to make a run for it.

Riolu used Counter.

Poliwag seemed on his last legs and he nodded.

" _I think we're gonna get along just fine._ "

Ash held out a dive ball, it was a gift from Biologist Ryan and was supposed to be more comfortable for water types, and Poliwag enthusiastically jabbed the button with his head.

Riolu and Ash smiled at each other as the ball clicked, noting a successful capture.

Ash got out his pokedex and looked for information on his newly caught poliwag.

Poliwag had the ability Water Absorb, which would be useful if Brock sent out Kabutops. Out of curiosity he checked Riolu's ability.

Inner Focus.

That explained some of the fights back at the lab.

Poliwag was let out of the ball and welcomed to the team, and was healed of the wounds he'd gotten.

Ash allowed the pokemon to jump into his arms.

He wasn't small by any means, only four or so inches shorter than Riolu, but his legs were stubby and he would not be fast enough to keep up with them.

So Ash would deal with it.

The three of them spoke amicably as they continued their trek down Route 1.

They'd used a shortcut by cutting through a thick section of trees.

Ash didn't mind sleeping in the woods, but he'd rather not take the chance that Gary happened upon him.

Riolu understood his reasoning and agreed.

Poliwag didn't understand, but he wasn't about to complain.

So it was nearing sunset when they made it to Viridian City.

They'd stopped to eat something small around noon.

Ash let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

He hadn't run into Gary yet.

And Gary probably didn't know the shortcut.

And Gary left after him.

So it was fine.

He paused for a moment, something compelling him to look up.

His eyes widened, taking in the large bird above him, leaving a rainbow in its' trail. Riolu and Poliwag were doing the same, judging by the sudden silence.

It felt the same as Celebi did.

Like it was trying to keep him calm by letting him know that a powerful presence was looking over him.

Was it like Celebi?

Pushing away the sad memories that came with thoughts of the small fairy, he continued down the path.

He would need to look up myths about powerful pokemon later.

Reaching the entrance to Viridian, he was stopped by Officer Jenny.

"Halt! Where are you going with those pokemon!?" Ash was a little confused, but knew she was just worried for Poliwag and Riolu's wellbeing.

He gave her a smile.

Smiles were the best way to persuade someone that you didn't mean harm.

She calmed.

"Oh this is my poliwag, and I was raised with Riolu. Riolu doesn't like pokeballs and Poliwag wanted to get to know us better." She looked him over and sighed, before pointing up ahead,

"The Pokemon Center is just up that way. You shouldn't be out at night, so I'd hurry. Oh and keep an eye out for these two," she gestured to the wanted posters next to her, "they steal rare pokemon and that Riolu of yours would be a prime target. I'd suggest trying to sneak away if you ever see them in the distance, but if it's a head on confrontation, fight like you're fighting for your life. They're sneaky and not afraid to play dirty. Known pokemon are koffing and ekans, and meowth but that one's more of a mascot and not very well trained."

Ash and Riolu looked at each other.

Poliwag seemed upset.

Ash gave her a nod, 

"Riolu and I would both protect each other to the death, and Poliwag may have just met us, but he's family now."

She gave him a worried glance,

"Alright kid, just don't do anything stupid." Ash gave her a smile and waved goodbye as he walked away.

It was almost completely dark by the time he got to the Pokemon Center.

He checked in with Nurse Joy, who gave both pokemon a short look over and deemed them both healthy.

He gave her a smile as she motioned to the door on the other side of the room,

"That leads to the cafeteria. It's pokemon friendly. I'd suggest getting something to eat, calling your family, then going to your room."

At the mention of calling his family his mood dimmed.

Riolu's happy chatter with Poliwag stopped abruptly.

Nurse Joy seemed to regret her choice of words, but had nothing to say.

Poliwag simply hopped into Ash's arms, hoping it would make him feel better, and Riolu gripped his arm.

Reaching the cafeteria, Poliwag tried to console them with tales about how some of the magikarp in the river were real trouble makers.

It didn't do much, but they both appreciated the effort.

Ash decided he should probably call Professor Oak, just to let him know that he was okay.

If the man's presence comforted him, well, that was for him and Riolu to know.

"Ah! Ash!"

Ash gave a shaky smile, and Professor Oak seemed to understand what had happened immediately.

So he steered the conversation.

"I'm glad you're safe Ash. It says here that you caught a poliwag-oh there he is!" Ash gave a small laugh as Poliwag chirped in greeting.

The next half hour was spent just talking.

It was nice.

Eventually, Oak had to go.

And it all hit him like a truck once they got to the room.

Poliwag was confused.

So he told him.

How when he was six his father and Celebi sent him to the future.

How he knows his father probably did something stupid and sacrificed himself.

How he just wanted him back.

Riolu was weeping with him.

Poliwag seemed so sad.

Ash didn't mean to make him sad.

" _I'm so sorry Ash, Riolu._ "

If Poliwag swore to make sure Ash and Riolu were happy....

Well that was for him to know, now wasn't it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please recommend tags that you believe should be there, and I'm trying to give them all personalities, please tell me if it's working.


	4. Honor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pewter City, Rock Type Gym Leader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, warning, Riolu is in fact a potty mouth and pokemon battles are slightly more violent than intended. Light to Mild gore, and there are many f-bombs dropped because Riolu can't control his temper too well.

Ash wasn't really that nervous.

He was confident in Riolu and Poliwag's abilities, and it wasn't like he had a limit to how many times he could challenge a gym.

Though more than twice would probably be embarrassing.

No, he wasn't nervous.

Scared?

Maybe.

Images of Poliwag being crushed by rocks and Riolu with a snapped neck from a too-hard hit haunted his mind.

He knew that Poliwag was fast, and more than capable.

He knew that Riolu's skeleton was made of metal.

It didn't stop the images, but seeing them when he awoke every morning was more than enough to get him to calm himself and focus.

He trained with them.

He wasn't taking any chances.

Poliwag didn't have much type coverage uet, but he knew Hypnosis.

Just in case.

Riolu knew Metal Claw and Counter.

And he could always use Quick Attack if he needed a speedy getaway.

Ash tried to calm himself.

He told himself that practicing making shields wasn't just for the gym battle.

That it was a good thing to know in general.

They traveled through Viridian Forest and Route 2, debating whether or not it was worth their time to try recruiting a bug type.

They could, if only to take on Sabrina.

But the bugs all seemed so happy that none of them had the heart to try convincing one to leave.

And before they knew it.

They were in Pewter.

This was it.

This was it.

Ash had to calm his heart.

Riolu ended up sending calming aura waves at him, while Poliwag insisted that they'd be fine.

Ash was just being paranoid.

Entering the gym after a quick stop at the Pokemon Center, Ash was made to battle two trainers before Brock.

Riolu took care of them with little issue.

Though the sandshrew was a little annoying.

Then again, when has Defense Curl ever not been annoying.

Poliwag was being kept a secret.

Hopefully that's give them a much needed edge.

Riolu had stamina, but he wasn't fast, and Ash would be lying if he said that Onix wasn't intimidating.

Not even abusing Quick Attack would make him feel safe if Onix was brought out second.

So there they were, face to face with Brock, an audience in the stands, not visible to anyone who couldn't see aura.

Brock smirked,

"Made it all the way here didn't you? Foreign pokemon or not, you're not winning." Ash looked at Riolu.

Riolu nodded.

The small slight did its' job.

Ash was now mildly irritated.

And Riolu was pissed at the insinuation that Ash was simply using him.

But joke's on him.

Riolu was faster when he was mad.

Riolu also hit harder when defending Ash.

He wasn't about to let this jerk insult his brother's honor.

As per standard procedure, Brock sent out Geodude first.

Neither of them were ready for a Metal Claw from a pissed off Riolu.

The move did its' job, and Geodude was weak.

Riolu must've been more upset than Ash thought if he managed to do enough damage to create gouges in Geodude's body.

Brock knew Geodude wasn't going to be able to take another hit.

Not if it was anything like that first one.

"Rock Polish then Rollout!"

Riolu managed to dodge the fast moving attack, but missed his chance for a second Metal Claw.

"Magnitude."

The ground shook beneath them and Riolu had to remind himself that this was for Ash as he cursed the shaking ground.

Riolu's clearest thought as he tried to keep his footing was that Ash better appreciate this.

He used Counter.

Riolu was winded from the strain of keeping a ready position during an earthquake, but Geodude was out for the count.

Ash calmed his fast beating heart and Riolu gave him a victorious smile. 

Brock gave a condescending smirk.

"A tough one aren't you. Try this then."

Brock sent out Aerodactyl.

Ash knew they were screwed.

He'd rather face Onix early than face Aerodactyl.

But Riolu didn't want to give up.

So they'd fight.

Aerodactyl started it with Wing Attack.

Riolu used Counter.

He didn't wait for a response.

Wing Attack had done a lot of damage.

So Counter had done a lot of damage.

But it wasn't super effective.

Aerodactyl shook off the hit way too easily for his taste.

Riolu used Quick Attack to get in close before Aerodactyl could respond, and now he was too close for him to dodge the Metal Claw.

Aerodactyl retaliated with a Fire Fang.

It burned.

It burned.

It was bleeding.

Ash was moments away from screaming for the battle to stop.

Riolu screamed.

He wasn't letting Ash call the match.

No, now he had something to prove.

His mind foggy with pain, he used Counter.

Blood pooled on the ground and Ash was barely holding himself together at the sight.

In a desperate bid to keep Aerodactyl from attacking again, Riolu learned Rock Smash.

Aerodactyl fainted.

Riolu gave Ash a comforting grin as he wobbled slightly, gripping his bleeding shoulder but refusing to back down.

It did nothing to calm Ash's panic.

Brock frowned,

"Why are you still making it fight?"

Before Ash could respond, Riolu turned around and yelled angrily at Brock, holding back a wince to avoid showing weakness.

Brock was still insulting them.

Riolu would just have to fight again and again until Brock got the message through his thick skull!

Riolu would _sweep_ his _entire_ team!

Brock gave Ash a look, 

"Control your pet."

Riolu had never been more angry in his life.

A _pet_.

He'd show this jerk a fucking-

Ash was next to him.

Ash was trying to calm him down.

Ash refused to look at his shoulder.

Ash refused to acknowledge the dark liquid slowly spreading across the rocky arena.

Riolu glared viciously at Brock, ignoring his brother's presence.

"Riolu-"

There was no way Riolu was giving up.

No.

Poliwag could have the Onix if he desperately wanted it, but he was going to rip this _asshole's_ pokemon to _shreds_.

So he pushed Ash back towards his spot and resumed glaring at Brock, readying himself for another round while fighting to stay steady.

He was _not_ weak.

Ash seemed sad, but got the message and went back to his position.

Riolu was fueled by pure rage at this point.

Brock gave a smirk,

"Can't even control your pokemon."

Rhyhorn was sent out.

Riolu was going to _murder_ this utter _waste_ of flesh.

Ash gave a sigh, slightly green as he accidentally glimpsed the ever growing puddle.

Ash knew that either Kabutops, Omastar, or Onix was next.

Poliwag could deal with all three, even if he'd have minor difficulty.

He could feel the pure rage emanating from Riolu.

He wasn't in his right mind.

Riolu wasn't going to let him call him back.

But Ash didn't want to see him faint.

Riolu hated his pokeball.

But Ash wasn't afraid to use it if he had to.

If Riolu wasn't fainted by Rhyhorn, Ash was calling him back.

It didn't matter if it would lead to an argument.

He wasn't going to let those images in his mind become reality.

Brock gave a smirk once more.

Ash resigned himself to watching his brother hurt himself to defend his honor of all things...

Riolu was faster than Rhyhorn by a lot.

He used Metal Claw and then used Quick Attack to get out of range.

All of Rhyhorn's moves were close range, so it was an easy win for Riolu, despite how beat up he was.

Before Brock could send out his next pokemon, Ash spoke,

"Riolu, that's enough." Both Brock and Riolu's eyes snapped to Ash.

Riolu was in disbelief. Ash looked at him, pleading,

"Riolu please, I can't watch my brother get hurt anymore defending my nonexistent honor." 

_Nonexistent_ -

"Riolu please. We grew up together, you should know that words don't matter anymore." Riolu's eyes widened as his head finally cleared enough to feel the grief and fear in Ash's aura.

Oh _no_.

"Riolu, Father wouldn't want this." 

Oh.

_Oh no_.

Ash was shaking.

He was going to cry.

_He made his brother cry_.

Riolu ran up and hugged him trying to comfort him, wounds and exhaustion entirely forgotten.

He looked at Brock who was watching with interest.

Fucking _asshole_.

Why wasn't he _doing anything!?_

_There is a fucking crying child and he just fucking stands there!_

Ash looked away.

Riolu knew that he messed up.

Oh no, how was he going to fix this.

Dad, how was he going to fix this?

Ash made eye contact with Brock and nodded. Brock smirked and sent out Omastar.

Ash sent out Poliwag.

" _Alright! Time for a battle! Took long enough!_ "

Riolu reluctantly stood aside, Ash attempting to stop the blood loss while keeping his attention mostly on the match. The light headedness did not prevent Riolu from analyzing the situation as per normal, well normal when he wasn't angry beyond reason that is.

Omastar was a threat.

He had powerful moves and experienced trainer.

He started the battle with Spike Cannon.

It did way too much damage.

Poliwag didn't have many moves capable of taking on water types, but he and Ash had trained for this, and they weren't going down without a fight.

Riolu watched as his newest friend faced a terrifying foe, unable to make a move before being hit once more by Spike Cannon.

_That should be m- **no, I made Ash cry.**_

"Hypnosis, Poliwag!"

"Let loose a Hydro Cannon!"

Riolu could see Ash smirk.

It took a moment to realize why.

Then Poliwag's wounds miraculously started healing, the Hypnosis hitting point blank.

Without wasting a second, Poliwag let off two Mud Shots to make Omastar slower for when he woke up.

Brock was yelling loudly, trying to get his pokemon to wake up.

To no avail, as Poliwag used several Pounds in quick succession for a knock out.

Riolu could admit the strategy was annoying, but affective.

Brock looked mildly annoyed at what he likely deemed an underhanded tactic, but it worked and was a completely legal move.

So his sudden elation when he released Kabutops was worrying.

The fight started almost instantaneously.

Any damage Poliwag did was nullified when Kabutops used Absorb.

Poliwag was getting irritated.

Ash was getting irritated.

Riolu wanted so desperately to wipe that smug grin off Brock's face.

Riolu saw Poliwag snap.

What followed was beautiful.

Even if it did cover the entire battlefield with mud.

There was even mud coating the walls, and Riolu saw that their mysterious watchers had barely managed to stay clean.

Needless to say, Kabutops was not ready for the sudden influx of mud, and when said mud kept making him slip, well, it was hard not to get hit.

Kabutops fainted soon after to an irritated Poliwag's many Water Guns.

Brock gave a grin.

Onix was sent out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me of any tags I should add....uh, sorry? I accidentally made Riolu overprotective and a hot head, but at least that makes his personality distinguishable!


	5. Hypnosis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Accuracy sucks and Ash should probably keep the shock blanket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, I kept forgetting, and when I finally did it, I feel like I rushed it. Feel free to let me know of any tags to add!

Ash was nervous.

Poliwag had been weakened incredibly by Absorb.

And he didn't want to make Riolu go out there again.

So he steeled himself.

"Hypnosis."

It missed.

It _missed._

Brock gave a smirk,

"Onix! Rock Polish then Dragon Breath!"

Ash sucked in a breath, "Poliwag! Rain Dance and try Hypnosis again!"

Poliwag nodded, setting up rain, hopefully irritating Onix just enough to distract him.

Onix used Rock Polish.

Please.

Please.

Please.

Poliwag used Hypnosis.

It missed.

Onix let out pressurized purple fumes.

Poliwag wasn't fast enough.

Riolu readied himself to go out into battle.

Poliwag was still standing, but _barely._

He needed to do something fast.

Hypnosis wasn't working.

"Poliwag, Bubble Beam!"

It hit.

But Onix was still standing.

It didn't even look too badly hurt.

Even with the rain set up it wasn't that strong.

Brock looked serious.

Confident even.

Ash was trying to stay calm.

"Onix! Screech!"

"Poliwag, keep hitting him!"

What should he do he wasn't sending Riolu out again oh Arceus Riolu was still blee-FOCUS

Poliwag was exhausted.

Onix was in good condition.

Riolu was hurt.

What could he do?

He'd have to use a physical move since Screech didn't help Dragon Breath.

He was going to use a Rock Type move.

The image of Poliwag being crushed under a pile of rocks, blood seeping out as nothing but a mangled-

No none of that, not now.

Onix was currently fast, but not faster than Poliwag, though if Poliwag kept up the Bubble Beams he may slow from exhaustion-

Were Rock Moves the only physical moves that an Onix could learn.

No there was Tackle, but why would Brock ever use Tackle.

Rock Throw was probable, maybe Rock Slide, Smack Down was better against Flying types, if he knew Sand Tomb it would be near useless this late in the match.

Rock Throw or Rock Slide.

Either small rocks or full on boulders would be launched at Poliwag.

What did Poliwag know to defend against that?

Nothing...unless....

"Onix, Rock Slide!"

"Poliwag! Target the rocks with Bubble Beam! Try to hit Onix with them!"

Please work.

Poliwag was a little confused, but willing to try anything.

Riolu grabbed his hand, feeling the surge of anxiety and doubt.

Poliwag fired Bubble Beam at the rocks.

It was strong enough.

The pressurized water was strong enough to counteract however much force Onix used to throw the rocks, and possibly gravity.

Poliwag was only able to hit Onix twice due to his Rock Polish allowing for better dodging and his admittedly horrible aim.

"Target Onix!"

Poliwag had scattered enough of the rocks around to make it hard for Onix to maneuver, which was one plus to Poliwag's horrific aim, and Onix couldn't really dig in the cement.

So he was unable to dodge as Poliwag threw his everything into one last Bubble Beam.

Aided by the rain, Onix was physically thrown back into a wall.

Onix fainted.

If it was from the Bubble Beam or the collision didn't matter.

Onix fainted.

Poliwag was swaying.

He looked slightly green.

_"Did I do it?"_

They'd won.

They'd _won._

No one had been crushed by rocks or broken their neck.

They were safe.

Ash almost sunk to his knees in relief.

He didn't hold back the tears, even though they should've dried up from earlier.

Poliwag stumbled over after having gotten a slight grip on his swirling stomach.

Putting that much effort into a Bubble Beam had almost made him lose whatever he'd eaten earlier.

 _"I did it...dear Arceus how did I defeat an onix?"_ Riolu helped him into Ash's arms, the little tadpole was clearly out of it.

Maybe the Dragon Breath hit harder than they'd thought.

There was polite applause from the stands and Brock walked up.

He smiled.

It was so unlike the demeaning smirks he'd given earlier.

He even seemed....nice...

"Congratulations on earning the Boulder Badge. You are the only person who's ever won against my full gym team first try, not to mention with only two pokemon." Ash cocked his head, feeling the guilt and shame in Brock's aura.

Brock was ashamed.

Perhaps it was an embarrassing loss for him?

And maybe he was guilty for upsetting Riolu?

"I'm...sorry for making you cry. I didn't mean anything I said. I just, it's a tactic. If someone's enraged they usually don't think clearly. It worked, but....I'm very sorry about your Riolu." Ash watched as he bowed.

Ash wiped away the remaining tears and gave Brock a small smile,

"It's alright. I was just scared Riolu would get....he and Poliwag are all I've got, I couldn't bear if something happened to either of them." The guilt and shame in Brock's aura only grew.

Riolu walked up and stared at Brock. After a moment, he kicked him lightly in the shin before giving a short bow and hiding behind Ash. His movements sluggish as the pain started to hit him and the adrenaline wore off.

No apologies would take back what he said.

Brock took it in stride, though the shame and guilt only lessened slightly.

They were kept from speaking more as a group of children came down from the audience stands.

Some congratulated him, while most seemed to bemoan Brock's loss.

The all looked similar to Brock.

Clearly family.

The thought made him cling to Poliwag just a little tighter. Though he loosened at Poliwag's protest.

Brock noticed and gave a sad smile.

Ash put Poliwag on the floor and knelt down so he could speak to both of them.

He smiled.

"I'm so proud of both of you. You both exceeded my expectations, and I was fully ready to accept failure after he pulled out Aerodactyl. Just please," he looked at Riolu, "please don't keep going if you're so hurt that you can barely stand. I-I couldn't-I don't know what I'd do if something happened to one of you." The tears were back, but this time Poliwag and Riolu were squeezing him tightly. Well, as tightly as they could with bloodloss and nausea on their side.

He laughed quietly and hugged them back.

Riolu was still guilty, but Ash could only hope this was a lesson learned.

He placed the badge in his badge case.

His record would be updated to show footage of the entire battle and note that he took out Brock's full team instead of just Onix and Geodude.

He bid Brock and his siblings a polite goodbye, Riolu sitting on his shoulder, no longer able to walk steadily.

Poliwag still looked nauseous, so Ash took care not to jostle him too much.

Nurse Joy was a little shocked at Riolu's state, but quickened her pace when Poliwag finally lost every meal he'd eaten in the past two days.

Chansey was helpful as always and took care to grab a bucket as she emptied the trash can.

Ash was given a blanket and some water to help with dehydration, and he was allowed to stay in the room as his two pokemon were treated.

Stress and shock were Nurse Joy's reasoning.

It took a long while, but eventually all of Riolu's minor cuts were healed, the large bite was stitched up, the burns were treated with several Burn Heals, and the bruises would have to heal on their own.

Poliwag meanwhile would simply have to be given time, because his organs did not appreciate the amount of force he'd built up for that last Bubble Beam.

Riolu was given a few Pokepuffs for good behavior, and Poliwag was given a shallow water bed to stay in so he could vomit into the bucket easily, and so his organs were under less pressure.

Water was helpful to Water types, who knew.

Though Water Absorb was helping things along.

When Poliwag seemed more....there, Nurse Joy would give him food and monitor his reaction.

Then he'd either be set free, or confined to the water bed until he fully healed.

Nurse Joy also wanted to monitor Riolu's stitches, since they were travelers and weren't going to go home and rest.

So they'd likely need to stay in Pewter until Riolu's stitches could be pulled.

Not that they minded.

Poliwag liked the water bed, and Riolu was both fond and saddened by the warm and fluffly blankets.

It reminded them both of Lucario's warm hugs.

Nurse Joy led them to a long term recovery ward decorated specifically for them. When they entered it didn't look like a hospital at all.

The walls were a calm yellow, the window was a medium size and in the middle of the back wall. It was large and clearly meant for patients who had a lot of energy and needed to move around but couldn't be let free.

There were even glow in the dark stickers on the ceiling that Ash appreciated.

It wouldn't be the night sky, but it mirrored it enough.

Ash was glad the walls weren't brown.

His father's face flashed through his mind and he wiped away tears. Nurse Joy gave a small smile and wrapped another blanket across his shoulders.

The tears didn't stop as Lucario's face replaced his father's.

"You'll be staying here until Riolu and Poliwag are better. I figured it would be best for your mental state if you were with them. I've arranged to have all your belongings brought up. Chansey will have them here for you in an hour at most."

She gestured to a human sized bed covered in stuffed animal and comfy blankets, "That's where you'll sleep, there are various trinkets said to reduce stress and I can arrange for books to be brought in from the library if you'd like."

Ash's bed was in the back left corner of the room. 

A smaller shorter bed, clearly for Riolu, was closer to the window, but not far away; it too was covered in fluffly blankets, and there was also a step stool if he ever needed it to get into bed.

Poliwag had a large pond that covered the area left of the door and stopped about a foot or so from Ash's bed. It was shallow enough for Poliwag to be able to reach the bucket with ease, but deep enough for him to enjoy a swim.

The pond was about a quarter of the entire room, which meant it was huge.

The room was large enough for Riolu to run around in, which Ash knew was on purpose.

Fighting types had a lot of energy, and having it pent up could do bad things to their health, physical and mental.

He'd heard stories of machamp going crazy because they were forced to sit still for long periods of time to have portraits drawn and such.

Nurse Joy motioned to a video phone in the back right corner of the room, and a door right next to it.

"Feel free to contact whoever you like, and that door's the bathroom, it has a shower too so no worries, and a laundry basket that will be cleared out every other day."

She gave him a squeeze on the shoulder and a smile.

Chansey moved Poliwag gently from the water bed on the cart to the one in the room, while Riolu was gently deposited on the floor and sternly told not to strain his shoulder.

They left and Ash made way for the phone, Riolu following and Poliwag too distracted by his still rolling stomach to notice.

"Oh, hey Ash! I'm actually a little b-is that a shock blanket!?"

Ash gave an exhausted nod, yawning, it was the middle of the day, but all the crying left him wanting to sleep.

"Yeah, the match with Brock was a win, but it took an emotional toll. Riolu and Poliwag aren't in too good a shape. Poliwag put too much power into his final Bubble Beam and his stomach did not appreciate it. He's pretty nauseous and can barely think straight. He's already vomited twice. And Riolu got a pretty bad bite from Aerodactyl that needed stitches. Any time we saved in the forest will be made up here. At least the room's nice."

Oak blinked and took a moment to process all the information. He looked worried.

"Alright Ash...."

Professor Oak paused to pull up the footage and watched it on triple speed.

"You fought and won against his entire team on the first try! Good job Ash, Riolu, and Poliwag too but I assume he's a little busy at the moment."

The sound of retching made Ash give a sigh.

Professor Oak winced.

"Well, I have to go, I'll call you later, but you caught me at a bad time. You did wonderful Ash, I'm glad you care about your pokemon so much. Good job Riolu, but be more mindful of your limits and injuries next time."

Riolu gave a blush and nodded, shame rolling off him in waves.

Ash gave a sad smile as the professor hung up.

He and Riolu sat by Poliwag's pond, Riolu leaning on him and Ash squeezing an eevee plushie to his chest as he stared at the rippling water.

The room was silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me any tags that I may have forgotten!


	6. Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash meets Team Rocket.  
> They're unusually pleasant.

It had been a week and a half before Riolu's stitches had been removed and it wasn't as boring as Ash had expected.

Sure there were moments were he wanted to punch a hole in the wall, but the excess time had given him the chance to meditate and train his aura.

It was a great stress reliever after all the visions of his friends dying horrible deaths.

At the very least, he'd learned how to levitate two aura spheres at once, though three was pushing it and needed a lot of concentration.

Aside from that, Poliwag got better after about five days. It took way longer than expected and he couldn't be fed for most of that, so Nurse Joy had advised against him learning Hydro Pump until he was at least a poliwhirl and to be near a Pokemon Center when they started learning.

Poliwag was a little put out by it, but he agreed since being sick and starving for five days wasn't an experience he'd wanted to repeat.

They all collectively decided to read up on the news when Riolu had used up his excess energy for the morning, since it helped keep Poliwag's mind off the nausea and it seemed productive. Nothing too of note happened except for the fact that they'd missed an attempted heist on the Viridian City Pokemon center by less than an hour.

That had been a little tough to swallow, but they'd been told that everyone was fine and the police force had gotten there before the criminals got away with their loot. They did manage to escape, but it was thankfully empty handed.

Ash didn't know how he'd feel if Riolu or Poliwag had gotten hurt. If the criminals had been smart and attacked during the night, both of them could've been stolen.

He and Riolu snuggled up against Poliwag's pond that night. They woke up to Poliwag vomiting a foot away from where they slept.

After a lecture from Nurse Joy about taking it easy, they were off to Route 3.

He couldn't avoid the large group in the middle of Pewter, as they were taking up the entire street.

It was Gary.

Gary who was smirking at him with a gaggle of cheerleaders in a car behind him.

"Hey No-Last-Name, wanna see me beat Brock, or will it remind you too much of your failure. After all, I'm the Great Gary Oak, surely my success will inspire you to work harder for a victory."

Good mood thoroughly ruined, he frowned,

"I beat him a week ago."

Taking advantage of Gary's momentary silence, Ash pushed passed him to continue on his way.

Route 3 was....annoying....

There were at least a dozen trainers, all very willing to battle.

He had to avoid all of them since he didn't feel like battling with two still-recovering pokemon.

Riolu's stitches had been taken out less than an hour ago and no way was he going to risk a Bubble Beam with Poliwag.

So he had to overextend his aura sense to make sure he saw a trainer before they saw him. Then he'd temporarily abandon the trail and sneak around them.

He guaranteed that if they hadn't had such a long hospital stay they wouldn't have had to do it.

By sunset he was exhausted and his head was throbbing, and he still had to set up the tent and a campfire.

Then it was rinse and repeat for the next few days.

He'd even heard Gary's car pass him by at one point, and he wondered how he'd make it through Mount Moon with that thing.

He was glad that Gary was ahead though, because hopefully that meant they wouldn't run into each other again for a while.

After a bland week of walking and dodging trainers, he'd finally made it to Mount Moon, before realizing he'd have to over extend his aura again because Riolu and Poliwag don't know Flash.

Then he heard screaming.

So he ran to help.

A man was being accosted by a horde of zubat.

Running to help, he summoned a shield to cover the man-a scientist now that he got a better look-and had Riolu and Poliwag attack the zubat.

It took a few moments, but they flew off, not back into the cave though, which he found a little odd.

When the man rushed towards him, probably for a thankful hug or something, Riolu growled and summoned a shield to block him.

Momentarily stunned and broken from his excessive thanks, the man grinned, 

"Such a bond between trainer and pokemon-"

Moderately worried about brain damage, Ash took it upon himself to interrupt.

"Sir, are you alright?" It took a moment for the man to respond, his brain seemed to have momentarily misfired, before he frowned and dramatically declared,

"Never call me Sir, I am Seymour, Seymour the scientist!"

Riolu was very tempted to attack him, Ash could tell, and Ash could understand, but the way the zubat reacted worried him,

"Seymour, do you know why the zubat attacked you?" The man nodded and motioned for him to follow, after a moment of hesitation, Ash figured he could take the guy in a fight if he had to.

"Yes, someone strung up lights in the cave and it's confusing them, Paras are drying up and it seems the only ones who aren't being effected are the geodude."

"Why don't you take them down?"

Seeming more distressed by the second, Seymour turned sharply on his heel to address him,

"That's the problem! Every time I take them down more pop up! None of the other trainers care since the light helps them get through the mountain, and one boy had the absolute gall to disturb the peace and drive a car through here!"

Seymour must really care about this if he's getting so close to tears over it. How did lights work again?

Oh, they needed electricity.

"Seymour, have you considered following the lights to find their source of energy? If you can destroy that then it should be fine." Seymour shook his head sadly,

"I've tried, the lights go on forever, and the only reasonable explanation is if they're battery powered. And batteries are so easy to obtain that it doesn't matter."

That....batteries? What were those?

"So the only way this'll stop is if we find the culprit?"

Seymour's lack of response was off-putting.

As they moved into the cave, Ash saw what the lights were doing.

Zubat were grounded or flying into walls, unable to orient themselves.

Paras were drying out; he took care to fill a bowl with water for them.

Sandshrew were unable to sleep, the constant light confusing their day and night cycle.

A cheerful clefairy bounced by, carrying a small silver rock. He scanned it for his pokedex, but let it be. It was happy as it was after all.

"At least they all aren't too effected." Seymour looked over, seeing the clefairy and nodded, "Clefairy are one of the more positive species, I'm sure they can be cheerful under most circumstances."

A cry of distress alerts them.

"I've gotcha now!" It only took a moment for them to race over and see.....a talking meowth cornering a shaking clefairy.

Riolu needed no instruction and immediately powered up a Metal Claw.

Meowth hears them and turns, not getting the chance to move away before he's attacked. Ash sets down Poliwag and immediately scoops up the scared clefairy, trying to calm her with his aura and his words.

He sets her down and she clings to his leg, turning back to see Meowth having already been knocked out by Riolu.

" _Whoever taught him to fight should be ashamed._ " Clefairy giggles a little at the comment.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Turning sharply, Ash sees a man and a woman standing with pokeballs at the ready. Their uniforms are what jogs his memory.

These people were behind the Viridian Pokemon Center attack.

"You better back off little boy, we aren't afraid to hurt you!" The woman sneers and throws her pokeball, the man follows soon after, an ekans and koffing are revealed.

He didn't have anything useful against poison types....

"Koffing, Smokescreen!" 

"Ekans, attack!"

What kind of command was "attack"!?

"Riolu, Metal Claw on Ekans, Poliwag try for a Hypnosis on Koffing!"

Ekans dodged the Metal Claw and retaliated with Wrap. Koffing did get hit though, but the man used an awakening.

He figured a fair fight wouldn't be given out by criminals.

He wasn't about to waste his meager stock of items on these two.

"Who even are you people!?"

He figured knowing their names would help him report their appearance, but he did not expect them to start up a well recited motto.

"Prepare for trouble."

"Make it double."

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

There was a pause, before Jessie growled,

"You knocked out Meowth didn't you!" That snapped them out of their daze and Riolu went back to attacking Ekans, while Poliwag shot a Water Gun at Koffing.

Ash was a little bemused.

"Do you recite that often?" James gave a grin,

"Everytime we meet someone who's not part of Team Rocket. Even if they've heard it a million times before."

Arceus that must get annoying.

"Did you-Riolu mind the fangs-by any chance hang up the lights?" Jessie put her hand on her hip and smiled,

"Of course! We're trying to find the main chunk of moonstone that should be around here somewhere. The little shards are cool, but we'll get a bonus if we find the big one."

Seymour was the only one acting like this wasn't normal,

"Are you holding a pleasant conversation during a battle!?" Jessie rolled her eyes,

"Look, I travel with these two idiots, I rarely get a good conversation that doesn't involve me smacking them for being stupid." James pouted,

"Koffing, try a Smog, Jessie I'm not stupid."

"Riolu-okay then that works. Poliwag, try mud shot."

"Are you sure about that?" The situation was getting weirder by the second and Ash just wanted to leave.

"Are you two siblings?" Jessie shrugged, "No-Ekans, focus on the battle-no but we've been on a team for so long we may as well be."

"Would you two mind taking down the lights, Seymour got attacked by a horde of zubat outside because the light was confusing them. The paras might also start to die of dehydration."

James looked sick and Jessie just sighed.

"Koffing, Tackle, we can-"

"But you'll have to compensate us with about a hundred moonstones. We can't go back empty handed."

"Jessie, we're already a laughingstock."

"James. Just because we're a laughingstock, that doesn't mean we shouldn't do our best."

"Wait you can't just take all the moonstone!"

"Seymour, it's either that or they keep replacing the lights and hurt the pokemon. I'm sure there will be hundreds of moonstone left over."

Riolu had knocked out Ekans, but Koffing was being an evasive little-

"Koffing, return." James returned his pokemon and sighed, tossing Ash an antidote for Poliwag.

"C'mon Jessie, let's help him look for moonstone, the sooner we leave the happier Boss will be."

That seemed to do the trick.

The next thing Ash knew, they were looking throughout the cave system for moonstone.

Clefairy seemed hesitant, but eventually started leading them to shards so they could get the job done faster. She refused to let go of hers though.

It was night time by the time they managed to collect all one hundred, they were exhausted, sweaty, dirty, and they still had to take down the lights.

James was being dramatic,

"I was not raised for manual labor!"

Jessie was complaining about her hair,

"Ugh, it's all covered in grime! This'll take hours to wash out!"

And Seymour was still _talking_.

"-and coming from the moon makes the most sense-"

Riolu and Ash were about to commit murder, and Poliwag had fallen asleep a while ago.

Clefairy seemed a little distressed, so he had to pull her away while they were taking down the lights.

"Clefairy, are you all right?" She burst into tears, clutching the little moonstone to her body,

" _I missed the evolution ceremony!_ " Setting Poliwag down, he sat and let Clefairy cry into his chest,

"I'm afraid I don't know what an evolution ceremony is." She sniffled and buried her face further, but started explaining.

" _My colony worships Cresselia. Once a decade we hold a ceremony to honor her, and during the ceremony all of us evolve, even if normally we'd be considered too weak._ " Ash stroked her fur and frowned,

"Do you want to evolve?"

" _Not yet, really, but I feel as if I've committed blasphemy for not attending._ " Stroking her fur, he sighed, he didn't know what Cresselia was, but it was clearly important,

"I'm sure Cresselia will not mind you missing the ceremony since you helped all the other pokemon in this mountain."

Clefairy didn't respond, only clinging tighter to him.

"C'mon, we've gotta help take down the lights."

She refused to let go of him, but did put the moonstone in his bag for safekeeping, so he made due and grabbed Poliwag, only now did he notice the difference.

Clefairy was half Poliwag's size!

After a moment of his brain shorting out, he held both of them with one arm, with a lot of difficulty, and helped take down the lights.

It was almost morning by the time they all met up with a large pile of lights.

Jessie grimaced, hand over her eyes,

"That's bright. So we'll use these to navigate out then what do we do with them?" Ash shrugged,

"They're yours, just keep them."

With no retort, the two Rockets picked up the lights and led the way.

"Clefairy, do you want to come with me or stay here?"

Clefairy's only response was to squish herself harder to his chest.

"That's a yes then. I'll catch you in a pokeball so you don't get stolen and then you can come right back into my arms, okay?"

She nodded.

Taking that as permission, Riolu handed him a pokeball and he pressed it to her head.

It didn't shake once.

Immediately releasing her, she squeezed him even tighter.

Placing the pokeball on his belt, he continued following the Rockets.

About three hours later, they were all out. Seymour was a little upset that he'd taken Clefairy with him, but made no auditory complaint, clearly exhausted.

"Alright, thanks for your help twerp. Team Rocket's blasting-did we forget something?"

There was a pause, before both Rockets turned to each other with wide eyes,

" **MEOWTH!** "

They darted back into the cave, lights in tow.

Seymour gave an exhausted smile,

"Well, that's one problem solved.... Thank you for listening to me. Um, do you have a potion? I need my Pidgeot well enough so we can fly back to Cinnabar." Ash handed him one of his few potions and Seymour seemed so grateful.

"Thank you, you'll be going to Cinnabar for Blaine's gym, so make sure to keep an eye out, I owe you one!" Calling out his Pidgeot, he healed him and was off in seconds.

He really mustn't like Mount Moon.

With the sun coming up, Ash figured he could skip out on one night of sleep and continued walking, though he did let Riolu join the group of sleeping pokemon in his arms, as he'd been awake and walking just as long as Ash had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay. Team Rocket makes an appearance. I'm going to be honest, I forgot they existed until this chapter. And i can't just retcon my story, so I retconned canon and made a claim that they missed each other by like an hour.


	7. Legendary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash needs a nap.

It was a short walk to Cerulean city, even as Ash struggled to keep his eyes open.

He almost missed the graffiti on the sign.

He would've, actually, had Poliwag not pointed it out, curious.

**Gary was here! Ash is a loser!**

Ash had a moment where he questioned why Gary was allowed to have a car before he moved on.

So what if he was a loser?

His father wouldn't think so.....

Hopefully.....

His mind slightly clouded by his thoughts, it took nearly tripping over a rock to clear the fog and make him focus.

" _Ash, you should rest._ "

Ignoring Poliwag's advice, Ash continued onward.

Riolu jumped out of his arms to lighten the load. Clefairy and Poliwag were content where they were.

Reaching the city, there was a ruckus.

A large crowd surrounded a building.

It wasn't really his problem, but he was curious. Seeing an officer, he made his way over,

"Um, Officer Jenny, what happened?"

The blue haired woman looked away from where she was studying the damage and sighed,

"Some thieves stole a giant vacuum cleaner. And only the vacuum cleaner."

Ash's first thought was _why,_ and his second was _not my problem_. Nodding, he left the officer to do her job and made his way to the Cerulean Gym.

" _Wait, wait, wait! Ash you'll do worse if you aren't running on any sleep!_ " Poliwag was correct.

So Ash sighed and instead made a sharp turn on his heel and headed for the Pokemon Center.

Nurse Joy greeted them,

"Ah! Ash Ketchum! My sister in Viridian told me to check on your Riolu and Poliwag, and I'll look over your Clefairy too, come with me."

He just wanted to sleep.

He followed her without complaint, though, as they made their way to the back rooms.

"All right, Riolu, please sit up here, Ash can you set Clefairy and Poliwag down here, and you can sit right here, your Clefairy is so adorable!"

Ash did as he was told, a mild headache from the amount of words that were being spewed.

It was really hard to translate when he was tired.

"A'ye ma'dame."

Either she didn't hear it, or he was imagining things, but he was pretty sure he slipped up.

Did he?

Didn't matter.

"All right, Riolu seems to be healing fine, he doesn't appear to have any other injuries, but I do suggest coming straight back here after your gym battle."

He didn't understand a word she just said.

Nodding was the safe answer, right?

Maybe?

Riolu would tell him if he missed something.

Though judging by the looks he was receiving, he wouldn't be told anything until the next morning.

"Alright, Poliwag seems fine too, and Clefairy's got good general health, so if something pops up during the gym battle, please come here immediately."

Oh, Riolu was getting up, focus on speaking Modern Kantonian.

"I've b'n up since y'st'day morn', so I'm plannin' 'n sleep'n' 'nd ch'll'ngin' t'e g'm t'm'rr'w."

Why was she looking at him like that?

Did he speak the right language?

He wasn't speaking Kalosian was he?

Where was he again?

Riolu grabbed his arm and shook his head.

Nurse Joy seemed a little worried, but shrugged it off,

"All right, I'll get a room ready for you all and I'll be right back!"

He picked up Poliwag and Clefairy claimed a spot on his shoulder; Riolu helped him to stay upright as he blinked frantically and attempted not to fall asleep.

"Right this way."

When did she get back?

Oh well.

Nurse Joy directed them to a room and opened the door for him.

Poliwag jumped out of his arms and onto the window sill, Clefairy decided to join Riolu on the ground.

" _Don't bother getting dressed, go to sleep and shower in the morning._ " He wasn't about to argue.

" _Cresselia will care for your dreams. Now sleep._ "

Oh right.

He still had to figure out what a cresselia was.

He was out like a broken light before he'd even gotten under the covers.

Riolu sighed and fixed the covers, Clefairy glared at the brightly lit room.

" _Is there a way to make it darker, Cresselia works better in the darkness of the night._ " Poliwag huffed and drew the curtains closed with his mouth,

" _What even is a Cresselia anyway?_ "

Clefairy seemed aghast that someone hadn't heard of her deity.

" _Cresselia is a legendary, she's known as the Mother of Dreams among my colony. She's said to bring sweet dreams to kind souls, and is the alternate to Darkrai, who brings nightmares upon anyone who is near. She represents the moon, she is beautiful. Though few have set their eyes on her, her sparkling rings are said to be reminiscent of moonlight._ "

Riolu was puzzled.

" _Aren't legendaries genderless?_ " Clefairy nodded, " _Of course they are, but she has explicitly told our ancestors to refer to her as a female._ "

" _Cool, I only really know about Suicune, since they're the one who kept the river clean. They appear every few months to visit. It was always a big event. People say that of you're born when they visit you're destined for greatness. There were also pockets of people who worshipped Kyogre and Lugia, and I even heard of one that worshipped Manaphy, but they were usually just ocean dwellers that were passing through._ "

Clefairy's interest was peeked,

" _Interesting. How do you worship Suicune? With Cresselia we hold a ceremony once a decade by gathering all the moonstone we can find and singing to her, and we never skip a night of sleep._ " Poliwag jumped down from the window sill to stand in front of them.

" _Oh it's simple really, we try to keep our waters clean and keep their job from becoming overwhelming and on the first day of spring we all get in a group and sing a soft melody, wishing Suicune luck as they purify the newly thawed lakes._ "

Riolu felt a little left out.

He and Ash didn't worship any legendary.

" _Hm. It's interesting to hear that some worship legendaries. I know the names of many of them, but only what my father taught me. If Ash and I were to worship a legendary, it would likely be Mew, as they protect the Tree of Beginning, which was near where we grew up. Though an argument could be made for Celebi, as they brought us to...safety._ "

Clefairy paused, before turning as fast as she could in surprise,

" _Wait, a legendary showed itself to you? Only those with routine tasks, like Suicune or Landorus, are ever seen!_ "

Riolu was suddenly very uncomfortable.

" _Right....we haven't told you."_

_Ash woke up refreshed, to his three pokemon cuddling him._

_Riolu perked up,_

_" _Good morning. Ready for the gym battle?_ " Ash caught sight of Poliwag's tail wagging excitedly and laughed,_

_"Let me shower, then we'll eat."_

_After a quick but refreshing shower, they all went down to the cafeteria, preparing for the upcoming battle._

_"Alright, this is a water type gym, Poliwag, you have Water Absorb so you might be best, but we'll have to be creative since none of you know anything that's super effective against water types-actually, Clefairy, what's your ability?"_

_Getting out his pokedex, he scanned her,_

_"Cute Charm, we can work with this. Alright, we'll do a little bit of training and we'll challenge them before lunch."_

_There was a general agreement after training that Clefairy was unreasonably bulky._

_" _I grew up around rocks. It's expected._ "_

_" _No it isn't! I grew up in the water which should mean that I dry out easily! I don't! You're stupidly thick skin can not be because you grew up around rocks!_ " Riolu rolled his eyes,_

_" _Calm down Poliwag. She's got thick skin, and we'll take advantage of it. No point in questioning why or how._ "_

_" _Yes there is a point-_ "_

_"Calm down, Poliwag, just get ready for the gym battle, you're up first."_

_Grumbling, Poliwag conceded and pouted as they walked in to the gym._

_Three women stood there, upset about something._

_"Oi, kid, the gym's out of commission because two criminals decided to wreck it. Here."_

_She held out a Cascade Badge._

_Poliwag was upset._

_Yeah, no, Ash could wait, he did not need an angry Poliwag on his hands._

_"Um, no thanks, we can wait."_

_She rolled her eyes,_

_"Just take it kid, how many times will you end up getting a free badge."_

_Not many, but if he took it he could already imagine Poliwag's reaction._

_He could already feel his father's shame._

_He shook his head,_

_"No, I'd rather earn it. It's best to be prepared, or at least know that I'm not prepared, for the trainers in the league."_

_The woman looked him over, before smirking,_

_"Good job kid, you passed the test. Daisy's the one who'll be battling you."_

_The blonde woman stepped up and smiled,_

_"Since the gym's wrecked for the next few hours there's a lake nearby that's devoid of pokemon."_

_What a strange challenge._

_Brock had trainers and the sisters had....a trick?_

_It was probably some character test he wasn't going to put thought into._

_Instead, he followed Daisy outside._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it, I'm sorry if this seemed like filler.


	8. Mud Shot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poliwag is insane and Daisy is both enjoying the battle and absolutely Done.

As Daisy led him to the lake, Ash started to doubt himself.

Riolu smacked his arm so he'd stop.

He needed to keep his head clear.

It wasn't a horribly long walk.

Daisy looked over the state of the lake-it was more of a large pond really-and nodded as Violet set up a few cameras to record the battle.

"Alright, this will be a four on four battle, Lily researched all of Brock's matches and was impressed enough with yours to recommend four v four single battle instead of the normal double battle, so I hope you don't disappoint."

High praise, he was sure.

It didn't quell his nervousness, so he nodded.

Daisy gave a smile, "You must be the silent type, good to know. Slowbro, wash them away!"

Ash gave the nod to Poliwag, who jumped into the water.

"Water on Water Type, this'll be fun!"

"Hypnosis!"

"Slowbro, underwater!"

Oh no.

"Poliwag, Mud Shot when you can."

"Slowbro, Curse!"

Curse?

What did that do?

He knew it was basically a death sentence when used by ghost types, but.....

Oh wait.

Crap.

"Poliwag! Hypnosis again!"

"Swim!"

Poliwag probably wasn't winning this match up.

But he had to try.

"Poliwag, try for Body Slam."

He hoped the sound of splashing water masked his order.

It didn't.

"Slowbro, you know what to do."

Slowbro didn't dodge, but, wh-

Oh.

Disable.

Oops.

Gritting his teeth, he didn't know how he could win with her using disable.

Just stall.

Maybe.

"Try for a Double Slap."

Poliwag was giving him a look.

Slowbro was unreasonable to expect to win against.

But at least it was the first pokemon and not the last.

He had a plan.

"You know what to do Poliwag."

It took a moment, but Poliwag's eyes lit up and he gave a smirk, swimming as quickly as possible to attack the slower pokemon.

He was hit, and Double Slap was disabled, but that wasn't the plan.

Hypnosis hit.

Dsisy gave a smile,

"Great problem solving, Slowbro, come back, Seaking, make a splash!"

She switched!

Brock didn't do that.

Then again....he was the first gym leader.

Daisy smiled warmly.

She had a plan.

That did not bode well for him.

"Megahorn."

That could not hit!

"Poliwag dodge now!"

Poliwag was faster.

Megahorn was extremely dangerous.

It would probably hit at least once.

Daisy knew this too, if her smirk was anything to go by.

The question was, why was she using that move against a relatively new trainer?

Maybe he'd done so well against Brock that she felt he was on a high enough level to garner it.

That meant she had set a precedent for using whatever powerful moves her pokemon knew.

Which was a very bad thing for him.

Time to plan.

Poliwag had a very limited movepool, so it would be smart to switch, but....

His friend wanted a battle, so he'd get his battle.

Hopefully it didn't have Swift Swim.

"Poliwag, Rain Dance."

After giving a look of 'What are you doing?' Poliwag complied.

Daisy seemed curious too.

"You have Rain Dance? Why didn't you use it against Brock?"

She was trying to distract him.

No matter.

"Poliwag was an ace. That, and he only recently learned it."

That made Daisy go back to smirking.

"Recently learned, eh? Okay then."

"Again, Poliwag."

Now he was getting looks.

"Seaking, get him!"

Riolu didn't know what he was trying to do and was getting a little irritated.

Clefairy just looked in wonder as the sky darkened and wind whipped up.

Seaking went in for a Poison Jab.

Poliwag was hit.

And he wasn't poisoned, thank Arceus.

Good.

Water Absorb meant the rain should do passive healing, along with the lake.

Which meant Poliwag should be able to heal no matter what damage Daisy did.

It was also super windy, since he'd whipped up more of a storm than a light rain by using it twice, which made the waters rough.

There was probably some way to take advantage of that.

He had about ten minutes of rain, eight of the storm.

He'd have to make them count.

"Poliwag, Pound."

Daisy raised a brow,

"Setting up rain....to not even use it?"

Ash was using it.

Just not in the conventional way.

"Seaking, Waterfall!"

Oh she was going to get such a rude awakening.

As the move hit, Poliwag used it to swim close to his opponent.

Using Pound, he made sure they were near the edge of the lake.

Mud Shot was easy to use when there was mud everywhere.

Daisy seemed mildly irritated.

"Water Absorb! How could I forget?"

Sighing, and seeing that Seaking's speed was utterly pitiful at this point, she pouted.

She only pouted harder when Poliwag kicked Seaking onto land so she wouldn't be able to fight back.

Knowing a lost cause when she saw one, Daisy let Seaking faint.

It wouldn't have been much use to force a switch when Seaking was already so weak.

"Alright then. Lapras, take it down!"

Now Ash was worried again.

Poliwag was still faster, but Lapras could take a lot of hits.

And it might have Water Absorb.

Which was an issue.

"Poliwag, Disable on Body Slam is ended!"

"Lapras, Perish Song!"

_Perish Song!?_

Nononononono.

He couldn't stop that.

But....Perish Song relies on hearing the song right?

"UNDERWATER!"

Lapras had just barely started singing, but Poliwag couldn't hear it over the roaring waters.

Daisy gave a smile, 

"Smart. But what's your play here? You know he can barely hit us."

Keep Poliwag unhurt until the rain ends.

That's his play.

He really should've strategized a bit more, but hindsight is 20/20.

No problem.

He can wing it.

Hopefully.

Maybe.

Probably not.

Egh.

"You know, Poliwag won't hear your orders."

Uh.....

Oversight.

"He's trained well enough to be able to make his own decisions."

_Sometimes._

Riolu was the one who could mostly do the battle without input.

Poliwag only did so when barraging the enemy was clearly the strategy he was going for.

Clefairy.....used Metronome when given free reign.

"You got lucky though. Lapras can't breath underwater. Or even dive really. Guess we'll have to take care of this ourselves. Lapras, Thunder."

"POLIWAG!"

Oh nonononononononononononono-

Images of a fried Poliwag floated into his mind.

Burnt to a crisp.

Not breathing.

His skin black and charred.

Tail destroyed beyong repair.

Eyes closed to never open again.

His breathing became heavy.

His heart rate hurt his chest.

His vision was spotty.

He wanted to throw up.

Clefairy wasn't protesting as he squeezed her against his chest.

Poliwag-nonononononono-

Riolu was about ready to jump into the electrified pool himself.

Poli-

Poliwag surfaced.

He was smiling.

" _Mud is a great insulator!_ "

Immediately, he went back below the water before Lapras could Perish Song.

Immediately, Ash felt a little better.

He still wanted to faint and/or vomit though, and his heart rate hadn't decreased.

Daisy looked flabbergasted,

"I-I-WHAT?"

Ash gave a helpless shrug, swaying slightly as his balance was thrown off by the movement.

The shivers from the rain and wind weren't helping.

"He must've burrowed beneath the mud to get a Mud Shot going or something."

Daisy looked like her world had been turned upside down.

"I just.....your poliwag is crazy. Lapras, try freezing the surface of the water."

Ash was sure she knew the water was a little too rough for that.....

Or not.

Lapras was truly a powerhouse.

Then again, he might have to rethink his stance on Poliwag as a giant ball of mud pelted Lapras before it could finish freezing the lake/pond.

It looked like it almost broke its' neck.

Necks should not be hit so hard.

Poliwag should've aimed somewhere else, but the other options were the head, belly, and shell, so Ash wouldn't get on his case about it.

Hitting the shell wouldn't win them the battle.

Hitting the belly was hard when it was underwater which usually made it harder to use enough force to actually do anything.

Hitting the head probably counted as attempted murder.

So the neck was probably the most logical choice.

Breaking it wasn't necessarily a death sentence.....sometimes.....

Daisy massaged her temples.

"Just....Lapras, I'm starting to wish you knew Attract. Future Sight."

Lapras nodded and set off an attack that would come down to hurt Poliwag in a few minutes.

Probably after the rain stopped, but he still had the lake.

"Start setting up Dragon Dances. All we can do is wait."

He was sure she had a pokemon that could go underwater.

Maybe she was also stalling out the rain.

It wasn't long before Poliwag started being a nuisance.

He pelted Lapras with Mud Shots every so often.

Once or twice he'd even come up for a Body Slam before quickly disappearing so Lapras couldn't finish the Perish Song.

If Lapras could actually manage an attack, Poliwag would be out in a single hit with all the setting up Daisy was doing.

Maybe she was going to try for another Thunder?

The predicament was answered shortly after when the conveniently timed Future Sight hit Poliwag after he came up to hit Lapras and sent Poliwag flying onto the ice.

"Finally, Lapras, Freeze-Dry!"

Squawking, Poliwag skittered across the ice in an attempt to get away, but the amount of Dragon Dances that Lapras had set up meant he had no chance.

He was hit and quickly taken out.

He looked at Clefairy for a second, then sent out Riolu.

Slowbro was a Psychic Type and it was better to save her for it.

Riolu was on the muddy ground, the storm turned into a light rain that was much easier to handle.

Ash held in a sneeze.

Riolu didn't need orders to charge at Lapras and use Rock Smash.

Lapras could've technically dodged, but Riolu came at it almost instantly and the ice aided in getting him there quickly.

It was anticlimactic for Lapras to go down in one shot, but Poliwag got off a lot of good hits and Daisy never had it use Rest.

Maybe her Lapras just didn't know Rest, which was weird, but he wasn't her minder.

She could train her pokemon however she wished.

"Alright then. At least that demon of yours is gone. Dewgong, you're up!"

The new opponent immediately made it known that it disliked being released on ice.

By breaking it and attacking immediately with a Signal Beam.

For all that it looked powerful, Riolu wasn't actually too affected by it and used Counter...

Dewgong did not like that.

Daisy's eye twitched.

"Dewgong stop it and use-"

She was attacked with Water Gun.

Which was boosted by the light drizzle that quickly disappeared.

She picked herself up off the ground and scowled,

"Fine, be that way. Your daughter's better anyway."

Ash felt distinctly uncomfortable with that statement.

"Riolu, I trust you enough to assess this situation. Can you do it?"

Riolu gave a nod and attacked with Rock Smash after dodging a Hyper Beam.

"Why is your Dewgong like this?"

Daisy shrugged,

"None of us really know. She used to be obedient even with her lust for battle, but after a while she started being violent towards everyone. Nothing we've done has helped, so we bred her replacement and are only holding on to her because if we release her she could hurt someone and get herself put down."

Ash reached out with his Aura and just saw pure _anger_ at everything.

Riolu clearly knew it too since he was trying to finish the battle as quickly as possible.

He gave a sigh,

"I'm sorry....have you tried any Chansey? I've heard they're strong enough to take a lot of hits, but very kind. Maybe they can find out why Dewgong is acting like this, then tell a Psychic Type so it can transmit that to you?"

Daisy sighed,

"Sure.....we have nothing to lose at this point."

Dewgong went down in a flurry of Rock Smashes and Counters.

Riolu was a little worse for wear, but at least he dodged all the Hyper Beams and Giga Impacts.

Daisy returned her fainted dewgong and gave a smile.

"You've proven yourself to be strong. As you have three more pokemon to use, how about I give you a challenge."

Technically he only had two, but Slowbro was her only Pokemon left.

He caught her healing it at one point, but other than Disable, what did she have that would absolutely destroy him?

He looked at Riolu, 

" _Don't worry, leave Clefairy until I'm near fainting._ "

After Brock, Ash was hesitant, but if Riolu went down, he'd at least have put a dent in Slowbro, then hopefully Clefairy could finish it off.

If he switched in to Clefairy now and she went down, however, Riolu would likely not be strong enough to take down a Psychic Type on his own.

Daisy gave a smirk, 

"Staying in then, Slowbro, you know what we're doing!"

Slowbro came out, awake.

Touching a gem on her necklace as it started to glow, she smirked,

"Slowbro, let's leave them in tears, Mega Evolve!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I realize in game you can't use Rain Dance twice, but I'd just finished writing the chapter when I realized that, so whoops.
> 
> Also, yes, gym leaders have Mega Evolution. Brock doesn't have a mega because he's the first gym leader and absolutely refuses to evolve Onix. Mega evolving Aerodactyl would make that his main and he ain't gonna do Onix like that.
> 
> I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter.  
> The Dewgong was just because I was getting tired, but also because this boy needs some friends, and what better way to make friends than Drama.


	9. Reversal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash is confused and Daisy is almost a good big sister.

Ash watched in mild horror as Slowbro glowed and changed, the shell growing to completely cover him.

Clearly it was even more defensive now, which was bad for him, but good for Daisy.

Crap.

At least it was still slow, but Ash knew Riolu was about to get utterly destroyed.

"Riolu, do your best, Work Up."

"Psych Up, Slowbro!"

Riolu got stronger, but so did Slowbro.

It was making Ash nervous, he wasn't going to lie.

What could he do against this thing?

"Hm, Metal Claw."

Daisy smirked as Riolu charged, he hit Slowbro, but....did Slowbro learn Counter? Why was she smiling?

It was making Ash nervous, he wanted this done with.

Metal Claw had done just about nothing.

This was bad.

Really bad.

"Slowbro, Withdraw."

She was making her already super defensive pokemon even more defensive.

This was going to be either a really long fight or a really quick one depending on Daisy's tactics.

Was she going easy on him?

Did this thing even know Psychic?

If it did, he was utterly screwed.

Riolu didn't know Screech yet, so he was a little screwed regardless.

"Riolu, just chip away at it, no Fighting Type moves."

Riolu knew Endure.

Did he know Reversal yet?

Actually.....yeah, yeah he did.

Why did he know Reversal but not Screech?

Whatever.

"Slowbrow, Withdraw then Psychic."

"Riolu, use Endure before she uses Psychic, then keep going."

Riolu kept hitting Slowbro, seemingly not hearing him.

Ash hoped Riolu figured out his order.

Daisy sure didn't.

Slowbro withdrew one more time, Riolu had gotten a single hit in before he used Endure.

Then he used Reversal.

He had essentially used an extremely accurate, Fighting Type, Self-Destruct.

One that didn't do any damage to the user.

Daisy watched in mild horror as her Slowbro started swaying.

"That.....yeah that was smart."

Slowbro wasn't fast enough to do anything before Riolu used Reversal again.

Daisy snapped out of her shock and took a short look at the situation.

Slowbro was extremely wittled down.

He wasn't living another Reversal.

"Slowbro, Disable."

Reversal was disabled, so Riolu went back to Metal Claws that did pretty much nothing.

Ash was waiting for her to do that, but maybe she didn't use it before because Riolu was doing basically no damage.

Daisy frowned,

"Finish him off."

Riolu was hit point blank by a Confusion.

He fainted on the melting ice.

Ash was proud of him.

He'd done way more damage than he expected, making this slightly easier on Clefairy.

It was still going to be risky, but Clefairy was faster than Slowbro, if only slightly.

Immediately she bounced over and used Sweet Kiss.

Daisy swore.

"I hate confusion."

"Minimize."

The problem with Clefairy is that she wouldn't be able to take more than one hit from this thing.

So raising her evasiveness and defense was smart....in this case at least.

Clefairy was so small he couldn't even see her anymore.

"Slowbro, try for a Psychic."

Slowbro tripped and hit its' head on the ground.

"Defense Curl."

Daisy was pouting,

"All you're doing is setting up. This is so annoying."

No he was setting up for a reason.

Clefairy knew one attacking move.

And he wasn't relying on Metronome.

Slowbro snapped out of confusion and proceeded to get off the ground, a little mad.

Daisy grinned,

"Try a Psychic!"

It missed because even Ash didn't know where Clefairy was.

Daisy pouted.

"Minimize is bullshit."

Ash was only mildly surprised at her use of language.

He'd heard worse from Riolu when he was angry.

" _Ash is this enough? _"__

__He couldn't see her, but he nodded._ _

__They'd planned this out._ _

__The only boosting moves Clefairy knew were Minimize and Defense Curl, but that was more than enough to make her move about as strong as Riolu's Reversal._ _

__It would be stronger than Reversal if she was a Psychic Type, but it was still stronger than Self-Destruct._ _

__The best part was that Slowbro never used any evasion increasing moves, nor did he ever raise his special defense._ _

__Ash didn't know if Slowbro's special defense was as high as his physical defense, but even if it was it didn't matter._ _

__A small Stored Power from a nearly invisible Clefairy, and Slowbro was down._ _

__Ash wanted to faint, and he was holding back a sneeze, but he was happy._ _

__He really hoped he wasn't getting sick from the rain. That would definitely sour the mood._ _

__Daisy was frozen._ _

__Clefairy came back to full size and hopped into Ash's arms, not looking even slightly tired out._ _

__"What? I....what did you do?"_ _

__Ash gave a small smile, slightly amused by the baffled gym leader._ _

__"Ah, we planned to have Clefairy raise her evasiveness and defense as much as possible so that she'd have a Stored Power about as strong as Riolu's Reversal."_ _

__Daisy gave a laugh,_ _

__"That...That was really smart. I didn't stand a chance did I?"_ _

__She kept laughing._ _

__Ash was mildly worried._ _

__"In all honesty, Slowbro's special defense is pretty bad, so I'm sure if you forgot about the Defense Curls you would've taken her out in a single hit anyway."_ _

__Oh._ _

__Good to know._ _

__Daisy calmed herself, still slightly giggly, and walked over,_ _

__"Congratulations, here's the Cascade Badge. Now let's get going, Pokemon need to be healed, and one of us is probably going to get sick."_ _

__Ash winced, taking in the fact that both of them were soaked to the bone._ _

__"Ah, sorry about that." Daisy waved him off, nodding at Violet who was taking down the recording equipment._ _

__She had the foresight to bring an umbrella and a rain coat._ _

__"It's fine, using rain for passive healing on a pokemon with Water Absorb is actually super smart. I might have to get a pokemon with it to steal that tactic later."_ _

__Their walk to the pokemon center continued in relative silence. Daisy humming and Ash trying not to sneeze._ _

__He was unsuccessful and Daisy gave him an amused glance, before her smile softened to something a little more hopeful,_ _

__"Oh, right, I'll have to speak with Nurse Joy about borrowing a Chansey to put Dewgong into therapy. Thanks for the suggestion." Ash gave a small nod, sensing her worry,_ _

__"Oh it's no problem, I hope Dewgong gets better...."_ _

__Daisy saw that he had something he wanted to ask, and motioned for him to continue._ _

__It was probably a rude question, but the people staring at her were a little disturbing._ _

__Their aura also betrayed an odd emotion that he didn't understand._ _

__It felt both predatory and not, which was throwing him off._ _

__He didn't know their intentions, which was making him nervous, but Daisy wasn't even acknowledging them, so she was probably used to it, which was even more disturbing._ _

__"Daisy, why are they looking at you like that? What do they want?" Daisy looked at the people peeking at her and frowned,_ _

__"Hm, how old are you again?"_ _

__Ash blinked, not knowing what that had to do with anything._ _

__She asked though, and he had no reason not to answer._ _

__"Ten, eleven in a week or so, why?"_ _

__Daisy hummed, he caught a very slight tone of confusion,_ _

__"I can't really explain it, but they think I'm pretty, and that's about the best way I can put it."_ _

__That explained nothing._ _

__He never stared at pretty people like that, and neither did Professor Oak._ _

__Wasn't staring rude?_ _

__Why were they allowed to do it without consequence?_ _

__Catching his confusion, Daisy patted his head and sighed,_ _

__"I'm sure you'll understand when you're older."_ _

__Why?_ _

__Why not now?_ _

__The rest of the walk was silent._ _

__Ash was very uncomfortable with all the eyes pointed in their direction and Daisy seemed to understand, placing a hand on his shoulder and picking up the pace._ _

__Maybe Riolu would know._ _

__Because Riolu was much better at figuring out emotions than him._ _

__Sure he got the basic ones, like happiness, anger, sadness, and nervousness, but the more complex ones like lonliness and amusement were harder to grasp from aura alone._ _

__It's the only reason why he looked at people's faces._ _

__Expressions made communication much easier._ _

__Reaching the pokemon center, Nurse Joy took in their soaked clothing and sighed,_ _

__"Both of you, come on, you need warm clothes before I can fix up your pokemon."_ _

__Daisy gave a small laugh and Ash obediently followed, realizing that Clefairy was also soaked and probably really cold._ _

__He held her closer and hoped he was blocking enough air to keep her warm._ _

__Nurse Joy sat them down on beds and put up a privacy screen after Chansey brought in dry clothes for each of them._ _

__Ash changed quickly, placing his wet clothes in the basket as instructed, the proceeded to try to dry off Clefairy with the provided towel._ _

__"You done?"_ _

__"Yeah."_ _

__Daisy took down the privacy screen and stared in slight amusement as he tried to dry off the squirming clefairy._ _

__"You seemed a lot more well put together in this fight than you did against Brock, is there a reason for that?" Ash nodded, giving up on scrubbing Clefairy completely dry, and letting her still damp form tackle him,_ _

__"Having the rules set in place made it so I could plan, whereas Brock was allowed to throw out up to six pokemon on a whim, which meant I was much more worried about my pokemon's wellbeing. Here, I had an exact number, and had bothered to come up with a strategy that wasn't just 'Attack with super effective moves' like it was last time."_ _

__Daisy nodded, humming as she kicked her legs,_ _

__"That's cool. I could see during Brock's fight that you can think on your feet, but there was a clear lack of strategy. I also saw that while you were impervious to insults, your pokemon were not, and that you were both clearly protective of each other, which is why I decided to forgo my usual annoying persona. I don't need a pissed off riolu after me, thanks."_ _

__They giggled slightly, and Ash smiled,_ _

__"Thanks, I'm glad I decided not to be an idiot this time. If my father could've seen me in that fight with Brock, he'd be rolling in...his..."_ _

__Daisy winced._ _

__"You too huh....."_ _

__The silence was awkward, and Daisy was beyond thankful when Nurse Joy busted in,_ _

__"Oh, Nurse Joy, my Dewgong's been super aggressive lately, do you think you could spare a Chansey so we can figure out what's wrong?"_ _

__Nurse Joy nodded, leading Daisy to another room._ _

__Ash didn't move his eyes from the floor, clutching Clefairy to his chest as his heart rate skyrocketed and his vision became spotted once more._ _

__She sighed, snuggling closer to him._ _

__A blanket was put over his shoulders._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm droppin hints. They aren't subtle, but they're hints! Anyway, yeah, I calculated it, and Reversal is 300 BP with STAB and Stored Power came out to 260.
> 
> I'm using level up sets from every generation, and before gen 8 Riolu learned reversal really early on, so I'm using it lol.
> 
> Also, damn it Daisy, you were so close! This boy needs human friends!
> 
> Oh, and, yeah, Ash needs a better handle on his PTSD, like, the fact that he keeps going into shock means that he's really fucking likely to eventually die from it.
> 
> Oh, yeah, sorry about the late chapter, the procrastination is strong in me lmao.
> 
> Reccomendations for tags are much appreciated!


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